I heard a podcast the other day about the cruise industry that was quite shocking. It told the grim tale about how 2020 had essentially gutted the cruise season and shut the whole industry down for months. That is that COVID SHUT the WHOLE industry down for the rest of the year. In that cast I learned that each company makes money by the boatload (LITERALLY). They have seasons where they make billions and so, like Joseph in Egypt during the years of plenty, they do what the interviewer stated as, “stocking their war chests”.
The cruise ship industry seems like such a romantic way to make a living but it has its pitfalls. One of those was brought to light last year when without notice the companies received word from host countries that they were no longer to accept any passengers. Did you know that each of those big babies has 1,000 workers and crew aboard? That is a lot of people even without guests. So, the dilemma that was caused was that they had to figure out how to get those crewmembers home. They are not all U.S. based. In fact they come from all over the world. HERE is a link to an article similar to the one I heard in a podcast.
Thinking of rough ship rides you should read Acts chapter 27 and 28 for an interesting seafaring story. That is what these chapters are about. It is Paul’s journey from Caesarea Philippi to Rome. It is quite a tale and only lacks pirates to top off the excitement.
Why did Luke put these chapters in his account? Of course the answer is that it was a part of Paul's life journey. Stuff like this happens when you are a missionary! At least in some missionaries' lives.
Paul was a prisoner during his Mediterranean cruise and he was headed to his final destination. He would go through rough waters to get there. He tried to give advice to the captain and owner of the ship but they didn't listen and lost their livelihood.
At the island where they ran a ground Paul was gathering sticks to put on a fire that had been lit to warm the castaways. As he did a snake lurched and sunk its fangs into Paul's hand. Paul shook the critter off into the fire and kept on working.
The islanders thought that the gods of the sea were getting justice and waited for Paul to drop dead. When he didn't these people changed their minds and said that he was a god!
This account highlights the end of Paul's story but it heralds the way for Paul's epistles. Read it and marvel at God's protective care.
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